Job Description

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The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) vision is an economy that works for everyone – with great places in every part of the UK for people to work and for businesses to invest, innovate and grow.

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Our objectives are:

1. Deliver an ambitious industrial strategy;

2. Maximise investment opportunities and bolster UK interests;

3. Promote competitive markets and responsible business practices;

4. Ensure the UK has a reliable, low cost and clean energy system.

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Our values are:

• Brilliant

• Enterprising

• Inclusive

• Skilled

The majority of the Department’s £14 billion budget is spent through our partner organisations and subsidiaries. 

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This is an exciting time to join the BEIS Finance and Portfolio Directorate. The new Department and Directorate (formed in July 2016) are now fully established and finance is at the heart of decision-making in a number of Government priority areas, including those impacted by EU exit. 

 

Competence 1  |  Leading and Communicating 

Provide financial leadership within the policy space and with partner organisations, helping teams complement and reinforce one another and ensuring a culture of good financial management. 

Ability to set the direction of own work area, taking tough and sometimes unpopular decisions, seizing opportunity to add value and implement change. 

Be visible to staff and stakeholders and regularly undertake activities to engage and build trust with stakeholders; 

Clarify strategies and plans, communicate purpose and direction with clarity and enthusiasm; 
Stand by, promote or defend own and team’s actions and decisions where needed; 

Lead by example, communicate in a truthful, straightforward manner with integrity, impartiality and promoting a working environment that supports the Civil Service values and code; 

Be open and inviting of the views of others and respond despite pressure to ignore, revert or concede. 

Competence 2 |  Collaborating and Partnering 

• The candidate must be a strong team player, demonstrating capability to build a network of colleagues, contacts and organisational partners to achieve progress on objectives and shared interests. 

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to put complex financial issues into layman’s terms for non-specialist audiences, including senior officials and Ministers. 

• Ability to seek constructive outcomes in discussions, balance a firm stance with a willingness to compromise when beneficial to progress 

• Demonstrate genuine care for staff and others, is approachable and build strong interpersonal relationships; 

• Encourage contributions and involvement from a broad and diverse range of staff by being visible and accessible; 

• Work as an effective team player, managing team dynamics when working across Departmental and other boundaries; 

• Actively involve partners to deliver a business outcome through collaboration that achieves better results for citizens; 

• Seek constructive outcomes in discussions, challenge assumptions but remain willing to compromise when it is beneficial to progress. 

Competence 3  |  Changing and Improving 

• Encourage and recognise a culture of initiative and innovation focused on adding value – give people space and praise for creativity;

• Effectively capture, utilise and share customer insight and views from a diverse range of stakeholders to ensure better policy and delivery;

• Spot warning signs of things going wrong and provide a decisive response to significant delivery challenges;

• Provide constructive challenge to senior management on change proposals which will affect own business area;

• Consider the cumulative impact on own business area of implementing change (culture, structure, service and morale). 

• Understand and identify the role of technology in public service delivery and policy implementation;

 

Competence 4  |  Delivering at Pace 

• Maintain effective performance in difficult and challenging circumstances, encouraging others to do the same 

• Clarify who is responsible for delivering outcomes, monitor 

• delivery and reward success 

• Get the best out of people by giving enthusiastic and encouraging messages about priorities, objectives and expectations; 

• Clarify business priorities, roles and responsibilities and secure individual and team ownership; 

• Adopt clear processes and standards for managing performance at all levels; 

• Act as a role model in supporting and energising teams to build confidence in their ability to deliver outcomes; 

Competence 5  |  Managing a quality Service 

• Exemplify positive customer service behaviours and promote a culture focused on ensuring customer needs are met 

• Establish how the business area compares to customer service expectations and industry best practice and identify necessary improvements in plans 

• Make clear, pragmatic and manageable plans for service delivery using programme and project management disciplines 

• Create regular opportunities for staff and customers to help improve service quality and demonstrate a visible involvement 

• Ensure adherence to legal, regulatory and security requirements in service delivery and build diversity and equality considerations into plans 

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Competency 6  |  Seeing the Big Picture

• Adopt a Department perspective to ensure alignment of activity and policy 

• Ensures relevant issues relating to their activity/policy area are effectively fed into strategy and big picture considerations 

• Bring together views and perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders to gain a wider picture of the landscape surrounding activities and policies 

About the Role

 

Our Finance Business Partners play an important role supporting strategic policy  development and managing the department’s finances ensuring that a high standard of financial discipline is an integral part of the decision- making processes. Through appropriate support and challenge across business groups and partner organisations, they provide senior policy owners, budget holders, directors and Ministers with timely and accurate information on financial plans and spend; and expert business-related advice on value for money, financial management and accounting issues. 

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As a finance professional you will work with a number of senior stakeholders and will be posted flexibly into a range of challenging roles across the function. This is in line with our 
Capability strategy to grow high potential finance professionals across the BEIS family.    

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About the Team

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The BEIS finance function is recognised as a leader across Whitehall and offers an insightful introduction to finance in the public sector. We have a number of positive examples of finance professionals growing their career and we will actively support our talented staff to progress. For the right individuals these roles can also act as a springboard into other roles within BEIS, our partner organisations and across the wide variety of government departments in Whitehall.

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Key Responsibilities

 

• Support and challenge budget holders and partner organisations constructively on their financial planning and activity to ensure budgets are utilised effectively; 

• Provide accurate information and analysis that delivers deeper, valuable insights into the business and enables budget holders to make informed decisions; 

• Inform policy development through advice on the financial implications of spending proposals and policy developments; 

• Ensure the accurate representation of the group financial position within BEIS management and financial accounts through the use of BEIS systems; and 

• Advise on good financial management to contribute to good governance for BEIS and the Accounting Officer. 

 

The role holder will deliver on the following activities

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Supporting sound budget management 

• Budget holders and partner organisations are clear on their allocated budgets and their targets for managing them; 

• Accurate budget forecasts are received and are correctly reflected on the systems; 

• Ensuring a smooth monthly reporting process which provides timely and accurate data to inform Departmental reporting and awareness of emerging risks; 

• Maintaining an accurate financial position through the appropriate accounting adjustments, regular journals and reporting; 

• Collecting and recording accurate information to support interim and year-end financial account preparation. 

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Providing excellent management information to inform decision making 

• Using finance systems to produce and present effective information to budget holders which enable budget holders to make informed decisions to manage their budgets; 

• Understanding the cost drivers, risks and issues inherent in the budget areas and how these might inform decisions; 

• Providing analysis that goes beyond the high level and highlights spending constraints and potential savings as appropriate; 

• Contributing to departmental budget decision making and planning processes through quarterly financial reviews and other departmental and group exercises. 

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Championing financial awareness and financial management across the group 

• Communicate financial performance and management information for senior decision makers and advising on associated risks, pressures and potential underspends to non-financial audiences; 

• Provide support and training to budget holders, sponsors and policy teams to increase financial awareness and capacity outside of Group finance. 

• Supporting resilient and robust financial management and financial governance procedures, including reviewing and updating the financial risks and risk reporting; 

• Using and applying the concepts within HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance; and 

• Developing and applying technical accounting/finance knowledge in advice to budgets within the policy area. 

Informing policy development in the group 

• Contributing to the financial advice given to the Groups on new spending decisions and policy developments; 

• Advising policy teams on steps needed to satisfy the finance clearance stage of papers including ministerial submissions and business cases; 

• Understanding the departmental context of financial decisions and using this knowledge to inform financial reporting and advice; 

• Undertaking clearance of a set of ministerial and senior official advice by identifying value for money, affordability any accounting issues within proposals; and 

• Understanding fiscal event processes and contributing to the development of business case proposals.  

 

Person Specification

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Essential skills / experience are to be full or part qualified and with previous experience of business planning or management accounting and strong Excel skills

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Part qualified means:

• Achieved Management and Operational Level of CIMA

• Achieved Professional Level of ICAEW

• Achieved Applied skills Level of ACCA

• Achieved Professional Certificate and Professional Diploma Levels of CIPFA 

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About BEIS

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BEIS is a new department at the heart of the Government’s agenda, with a vision of an economy that works for everyone. We are responsible for developing and delivering a comprehensive industrial strategy and leading the Government’s relationship with business; we work to tackle climate change and ensure that the country has secure energy supplies that are reliable, affordable and clean. Our role is vital to lead the Government’s vision in a context of momentous change, responding to both the short-term domestic impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and working to define the next stage. 

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We feel the department has an exciting remit, and we hope you agree.
 

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Contact​

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For an informal discussion regarding this role please contact Tim Salmon. 

​020 3031 9634  |  timsalmon@allenlane.co.uk

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